With the economy circling the drain, the pizza industry is taking it on the chin, Papa John's CEO Nigel Travis said at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago today. A perfect storm of recession,* rising commodity costs (cheese and wheat), and steeper gas prices for consumers have hit Papa John's—and I'm guessing other chains—hard. The third largest chain says it won't raise prices, make pizzas smaller, or start using cheaper ingredients but will look at a value menu for cost-conscious pizza-eaters. (Pizza Hut's value-minded Pizza Mia—$5—is reportedly going over like gangbusters.)

*In the article Travis says, "I personally think we are in a recession." Why is it that the CEO of friggin' Papa John's has the nads to say this when all the politicians and money dudes keep talking about a "recession that we may or may not be in" or that "we may or may not be heading into"?